Novels about psychopaths are hardly anything new but when the narrator himself is the killer then the story takes a more intimate and wholly more disturbing twist. “Journals of a Psychopath” is a brave new novel from first time author Alex Lawson and ventures directly into the mind of a deranged killer. Taking a unique angle on the traditional abusive parent turning a child into a highly disturbed adult, this time the parent is the mother who rapes and brutalised the young boy, laying down the foundations for a reign of terror that forms the main thrust of this book.

The prose is almost poetic in its style and although unusual, it fits perfectly with the growing insanity and disassociation felt by the protagonist. He slips from reality into his psychotic realms as if moving from one room to another and with no more thought. This technique allows the reader to inhabit the killer’s thoughts as he is driven by the voices to perform his horrendous, ritualistic murders in an effort to exact revenge. The focus of his rage is directed towards woman who in some way remind him of his mother, small and silver haired, he takes them and subjects them to a horrific death that satisfies his blood lust only momentarily.

The transitions from lucidity to insanity are beautifully handled and show the protagonist’s complete lack of connection with the real world in quite a disturbing way. Driven by the voices that haunt and direct him he carries out the killings with precision and ritual deserving of a place alongside the likes of Norman Bates and Hannibal Lector.

 This is a novel with a unique voice – that of the psychopath himself and his soul. His thoughts, his murders, leak all over the page to give the reader a connection they might regret come the finish! It’s an amazing first novel and we can’t wait for more.